Last week, the 2025 Aspen Security Forum brought together top national security voices, experts, business leaders, and innovators from across the political spectrum and around the globe. We were proud to host over 700 in-person attendees, including many from our Rising Leaders Program, which fosters the next generation of national security and foreign policy leaders. Additionally, thousands of virtual participants tuned into our programming from across the world.
Check out all of the sessions here.
Things to Know
Features from Aspen Security Forum 2025 Speakers and Moderators
Nicholas Burns quoted by Bochen Han for the South China Morning Post: “U.S. and China Are ‘Creeping’ Towards a Trade Deal, Former Ambassador Nicholas Burns Says”
Condoleezza Rice interviewed by Alex Kantrowitz for the Big Technology podcast: “U.S. Tech at Risk Amid University Cuts, China Threat”
Anja Manuel quoted by David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “How Strategists Think About Keeping the Peace in the Taiwan Strait”
Wally Adeyemo quoted by Tim McDonnell for Semafor: “Trump’s Renewables Crackdown Hurts U.S. National Security, Biden Official Warns”
Vivian Balakrishnan quoted by Tan Min Wei for Mothership: “‘Entirely Legitimate’ for U.S. Voters Today to Ask Why They Should Pay to Uphold Global System”
Adam Boehler interviewed by Jake Tapper for CNN: “‘There’s Nothing Like Seeing Their Faces When They Come In’: Hostage Envoy on Freeing Americans in Venezuela”
Baiba Braže, Halyna Yanchenko, and Thórdís Gylfadóttir quoted by POLITICO: “Aspen’s Euros Cross Their Fingers About Trump and Ukraine”
Kaitlan Collins for CNN: “Behind the Scenes at the White House with Kaitlan Collins: Netanyahu’s Trip, New Tariff Letters, and Trump’s Texas Visit”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed David Shambaugh for the China Considered podcast: “The Rise and Fall of U.S.-China Engagement With David Shambaugh”
Michael Froman interviewed by Aiden Reiter and Hakyung Kim for the Financial Times: “‘We Are Not Taking the Trade-Offs as Seriously as We Should Be’”
Šumit Ganguly for Foreign Policy: “India’s Air Force Is in Crisis”
Kim Ghattas interviewed by Joe Scarborough for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
Shashank Joshi for The Economist: “The War Room Newsletter: Three New Books on Espionage”
Andrius Kubilius quoted by Morgan Phillips for Fox News: “EU Defense Chief Warns of ‘Most Dangerous Moment’ – Coordinated Russian-Chinese Aggression By 2027”
Gordon Lubold, Courtney Kube, Julie Tsirkin, Katherine Doyne, Dan De Luce, and Carol E. Lee for NBC News: “New U.S. Assessment Finds American Strikes Destroyed Only One of Three Iranian Nuclear Sites”
Edward Luce for the Financial Times: “Trump–Emperor of Brazil”
Brett H. McGurk for CNN: “Trump’s New Stance Toward Russia Changes the Calculus in Ukraine. Why Now?”
Vali Nasr quoted by Alex Horton and Warren P. Strobel for The Washington Post: “Iran Bomb Damage Intel Suggests Two Nuclear Sites Not ‘Obliterated’”
David Petraeus and Karim Sadjadpour interviewed by Aaron David Miller for the Carnegie Endowment’s Carnegie Connects podcast: “Explosive Triangle: The U.S., Iran, and Israel”
Sachin Pilot quoted for the Economic Times: “Something ‘Fishy’ Behind Dhankhar’s Resignation”
Penny Pritzker quoted by Miranda David, Isis Almeida, and Janet Lorin for Bloomberg: “Penny Pritzker Warns Trump Cuts Threaten U.S. in Global Tech Race”
Pasi Rajala quoted by the Helsinki Times: “Finland Opposes Freezing EU-Israel Agreement, Says Rajala”
Kevin Rudd quoted by David Brunnstrom for Reuters: “Australia Confident Issues Raised in U.S. Review of Submarine Project Will Be Resolved”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “Trump’s A.I. Challenge: Focus on World’s Most Dangerous Weapons or Woke-ism?”
Nick Schifrin, Geoff Bennett, and Sonia Kopelev for PBS News Hour: “Iran Says It Will Continue Uranium Enrichment Despite U.S. Strikes on Nuclear Facilities”
Demetri Sevastopulo for the Financial Times: “Cracks Widen in Japan and U.S.’s Interpretation of Tariff Trade Deal”
Sarang Shidore for The Diplomat: “The Philippines-U.S. Relationship Is Tested as President Marcos Visits Washington”
Mark Warner quoted by Marc Rod for Jewish Insider: “Sen. Mark Warner: U.S. Strikes on Iran Were a ‘Success,’ but What Happens Next Is Critical”
Lingling Wei for The Wall Street Journal: “Navigating the President’s Policy Whiplash on China”
Amos Yadlin interviewed by Jim Sciutto for CNN’s “The Brief with Jim Sciutto”
Robert B. Zoellick for The Wall Street Journal: “An Economic Agenda for the Class of 2028”
From the Podcast Studio
Podcasts Recorded at the 2025 Aspen Security Forum
Scott R. Anderson, Shane Harris, Mark Goldberg, and Alexander Ward for Lawfare’s Rational Security podcast: “The ‘Live from Aspen’ Edition”
Comfort Ero interviewed by Mark Leon Goldberg for the Global Dispatches podcast: “Comfort Ero on How Foreign Aid Cuts May Spark Conflicts Worldwide”
Robert Gates interviewed by David Gura for Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast: “What Worries Former Pentagon Chief Robert Gates”
Thórdís Gylfadóttir interviewed by Mark Leon Goldberg for the Global Dispatches podcast: “Can Europe Stay Unified on Ukraine? With Thórdís Gylfadóttir, Iceland’s Former Foreign Minister”
Shashank Joshi and Iris Ferguson interviewed by Scott R. Anderson for the Lawfare Daily podcast: “Conversations From Aspen, Part 1: Shashank Joshi on European Security and Iris Ferguson on the Arctic”
Ali Nazary and Sam Charap interviewed by Scott R. Anderson for the Lawfare Daily podcast: “Conversations From Aspen, Part 2: Ali Nazary on the Future of Afghanistan and Sam Charap on the Ukraine Conflict”
Jeremy Shapiro and Tom Wright interviewed by Mark Leonard for the ECFR’s Mark Leonard’s World in 30 Minutes podcast: “Live From the Aspen Security Forum: America’s Inward Turn”
The Weekly Leaf will be on hiatus for August.
Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the summer!
